Finding Meaning, Message, and Purpose in Your Story

Many writers feel drawn to write about their lives but struggle with uncertainty: Why this story? Why now? And who is it really for? This workshop is designed to help writers move beyond doubt and toward clarity by focusing on the deeper meaning and purpose beneath their story.

In this interactive, craft-forward session, participants will be introduced to the Memoir Compass, a practical framework that helps writers articulate their motivation (why they are writing), mission (who the story serves), and message (what meaning or insight the story carries). Through guided reflection and writing exercises, participants will begin shaping a personal narrative rooted in intention rather than overwhelm.

This workshop is ideal for writers interested in memoir or personal narrative, as well as fiction writers drawing from lived experience, who want to move forward with greater confidence, focus, and direction.

About Ally

Ally Berthiaume (born Alyssa and published as A.Y.) is an award-winning author, memoir coach, and developmental editor with an MFA in Creative Writing (Nonfiction) and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies. She is the founder of The Write Place, Right Time, where she works with writers drawn to personal narrative and memoir who are seeking clarity, purpose, and craft in their storytelling.

Her work centers women’s lived experience and meaning-making through writing, helping writers move beyond doubt and toward intentional, well-shaped stories. Ally is particularly interested in memoir as a literary form that bridges the personal and the universal, and her teaching emphasizes clarity, courage, and ethical engagement with lived experience.

You can learn more about Ally at thewriteplacerighttime.com or by reading her award-winning works, Dear Universe, I Get it Now: Letters on the Art and Journey of Being Brave and Being Me or Do Not Write a Book…Until You Read This One.